International Rules, Food Safety and the Poor Developing Country Livestock Producer

The present study is a part of the PPLPI effort to identify significant political and institutional factors and processes that currently hinder or prevent the poor in developing countries from taking greater advantage of opportunities to benefit from their livestock resources. The rapid development of international sanitary and phytosanitary standards have been identified as an important factor and further research is needed in this area. This study focuses on what can be done to make international rule-making friendlier to poor livestock producer interests. To identify strategic entry points for those wishing to make international rule-making friendlier to poor livestock producers this study: (a) describes and analyzes the international environment that states and other actors face when seeking to influence international food safety rules; (b) discusses the roles played by states and other actors in creating and enforcing those rules; and (c) analyzes a series of cases involving international rule-making for livestock food products. Recommendations for making international rule-making friendlier to poor producers consider two perspectives: that of the producer and that of the national delegates participating in the international rule-making process. From the perspective of poor producers and their advocates the primary route to influencing international rule-making is by influencing their own country's position in international organizations. However, developing country governments are not yet taking full advantage of the options for representing their own interests in international rule-making. Important activities they should engage in include: greater coordination at the national level among ministries and individuals responsible for developing policy positions in all international food safety organizations; improving the quality and quantity of delegations to international organizations; forming alliances with other similarly-situated countries on issues of particular concern; and lobbying for technical assistance to comply with international standards and with a goal of complying with private international standards as well. In general, the study concludes that developing countries can do much more to address the interests of their poor producers.Livestock Production/Industries,

EU Policy-Making: Reform of the CAP and EU Trade in Beef & Dairy with Developing Countries

The present study is part of the PPLPI effort to identify significant political and institutional factors and processes that currently hinder or prevent the poor in developing countries from taking greater advantage of opportunities to benefit from livestock. The study examines the political economy of policy-making concerning trade in livestock and livestock products (LLPs) between the European Union (EU) and developing countries (DCs). The main objective is to determine and assess how relevant EU policy is made, including the role of key actors and forces both domestic and international. The political economy of relevant LLP trade-related issues are examined at four levels: (a) the EU member state, (b) the European Union itself, (c) the international trading system, and (d) developing countries. Several issues cross, or are relevant to, the different levels of analysis. A related objective is to identify "entry points" and provide strategic recommendations aimed at achieving positive change. Two livestock commodities, beef and dairy, were selected as central to the study. The EU is a prodigious producer of livestock and livestock products, and it plays a major role in international trade in LLPs. EU subsidies and trade barriers have been the subject of intense criticism by some European Union member states, developed and developing country trading partners, international organizations, academics, advocacy NGOs and others.European Union, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Policy Making, Trade, Developing Countries, Livestock, Beef, Dairy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

Static theory of the giant quadrupole resonance in deformed nuclei

The modes and frequencies of the giant quadrupole resonance of heavy deformed nuclei have been calculated. The quadrupole operator is computed and the absorption cross section is derived. The quadrupole sum rule is discussed, and the relevant oscillator strengths have been evaluated for various orientations of the nucleus. The giant quadrupole resonances have energies between 20 and 25 MeV. The total absorption cross section is about 20% of the giant dipole absorption cross section. Of particular interest is the occurrence of the quadrupole mode which is sensitive to the nuclear radius in a direction of approximately θ=(1/4)π from the symmetry axis. This may give information on the details of the nuclear shape

Dynamic collective theory of odd-a nuclei

The unified model and the collective giant-dipole-resonance model are unified. The resulting energy spectrum and the transition probabilities are derived. A new approximate selection rule involving the symmetry of the γ vibrations is established. It is verified that the main observable features in the photon-absorption cross section are not influenced by the odd particle, despite the considerably richer spectrum of states as compared to even-even nuclei

Continuation of tailored composite structures of ordered staple thermoplastic material

The search for the cost effective composite structure has motivated the investigation of several approaches to develop composite structure from innovative material forms. Among the promising approaches is the conversion of a planar sheet to components of complex curvature through sheet forming or stretch forming. In both cases, the potential for material stretch in the fiber direction appears to offer a clear advantage in formability over continuous fiber systems. A framework was established which allows the simulation of the anisotropic mechanisms of deformation of long discontinuous fiber laminates wherein the matrix phase is a viscous fluid. Predictions for the effective viscosities of a hyper-anisotropic medium consisting of collimated, discontinuous fibers suspended in viscous matrix were extended to capture the characteristics of typical polymers including non-Newtonian behavior and temperature dependence. In addition, the influence of fiber misorientation was also modeled by compliance averaging to determine ensemble properties for a given orientation distribution. A design tool is presented for predicting the effect of material heterogeneity on the performance of curved composite beams such as those used in aircraft fuselage structures. Material heterogeneity can be induced during manufacturing processes such as sheet forming and stretch forming of thermoplastic composites. This heterogeneity can be introduced in the form of fiber realignment and spreading during the manufacturing process causing radial and tangential gradients in material properties. Two analysis procedures are used to solve the beam problems. The first method uses separate two-dimensional elasticity solutions for the stresses in the flange and web sections of the beam. The separate solutions are coupled by requiring that forces and displacements match section boundaries. The second method uses an approximate Rayleigh-Ritz technique to find the solutions for more complex beams. Analyses are performed for curved beams of various cross-sections loaded in pure bending and with a uniform distributed load. Preliminary results show that the geometry of the beam dictates the effect of heterogeneity on performance. The role of heterogeneity is larger in beams with a small average radius-to-depth ration, R/t, where R is the average radius of the beam and t is the difference between the inside and outside radii. Results of the anlysis are in the form of stresses and displacements and are compared to both mechanics of materials and numerical solutions obtained using finite element analysis

Human Rights: A Modest Proposal

Human rights have become an enormously useful tool in our time, and this for a variety of reasons. Useful, yes: but are rights real? I propose first to examine the most significant philosophical attempts to justify human rights. A universally justified conception of rights I call ‘robust,’ since a successful rational justification would fully underwrite the real existence of rights. Alas, we have no such justification; the second part of my remarks sketches devastating objections to each proposed justification. But all is not lost for rights: a new pragmatic justification for rights talk is available, one that is modest. On the modest view rights are real; but then we should like to know whether rights are as useful as they are on the robust view. Not as useful, no; but

Acceleration of phenological advance and warming with latitude over the past century.

In the Northern Hemisphere, springtime events are frequently reported as advancing more rapidly at higher latitudes, presumably due to an acceleration of warming with latitude. However, this assumption has not been investigated in an analytical framework that simultaneously examines acceleration of warming with latitude while accounting for variation in phenological time series characteristics that might also co-vary with latitude. We analyzed 743 phenological trend estimates spanning 86 years and 42.6 degrees of latitude in the Northern Hemisphere, as well as rates of Northern Hemisphere warming over the same period and latitudinal range. We detected significant patterns of co-variation in phenological time series characteristics that may confound estimates of the magnitude of variation in trends with latitude. Notably, shorter and more recent time series tended to produce the strongest phenological trends, and these also tended to be from higher latitude studies. However, accounting for such variation only slightly modified the relationship between rates of phenological advance and latitude, which was highly significant. Furthermore, warming has increased non-linearly with latitude over the past several decades, most strongly since 1998 and northward of 59°N latitude. The acceleration of warming with latitude has likely contributed to an acceleration of phenological advance along the same gradient

Impact of refrigerated storage on the dissipation of woody broiler breast meat

Chicken breast samples, (n=90; n=30 normal, n=30 moderate woody breast (WB), n=30 severe WB) were collected from a commercial processing plant on 5 separate occasions. After 5 days of storage at 2-4 ºC, 84% of severe WB fillets dissipated to moderate WB, which was greater (P\u3c0.05) than all other storage times. In comparison, 40-52% of the moderate WB fillets dissipated to slight WB or normal breasts after 3 to 5 days of storage. Shear force was greater (P\u3c0.05) for normal breast meat than moderate and severe WB meat on day 0. After 2, 3, 4, and 5 days of storage the upper position (cranial part) of severe WB had greater shear force than normal fillets (P\u3c0.05). Therefore, the dissipation that occurred in woody breast meat over refrigerated storage was apparent through palpation but did not result in improved texture in the cranial portion of the breast, based on shear force results